Beyond the Wall: Tools and Resources

The Trump administration’s immigration and border security policies will impact the lives of thousands of people in the United States and abroad. These policies represent a fundamental threat to human rights, international law, and U.S. democratic values.

Building a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border would be divisive, ineffective, and costly. Download the WOLA Border Wall factsheet and social media toolkit to fight misinformation and stop Trump’s border wall.

In September 2017, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the Trump administration would end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which allowed nearly 800,000 young migrants who were brought to the United States as children to stay in the country. After putting their trust in the government, these “Dreamers” now face an uncertain future as Congress and the courts decide their fate.

In 2017, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reported that the U.S.-Mexico border was more secure than ever. The Trump administration’s recent border security proposals—including building a border wall and hiring 5,000 new Border Patrol agents—are unnecessary and wasteful.

President Trump and members of his administration have repeatedly spread misinformation about migration. These myths stigmatize migrant communities in the United States and should not be used as a justification for enacting draconian immigration policies.

Under President Trump, arrests of undocumented immigrants with no criminal record have more than tripled. Trump has called for a 10,000-person increase in the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) force, an additional $4.4 billion for detention and removal efforts, and the construction of “tent cities” to house asylum-seeking migrants at the border. By empowering ICE and calling for expanded detention facilities, the Trump administration is putting in motion policies that would tear families apart or else keep them locked up indefinitely.

The Trump administration has frequently argued that the increase in the number of families and children fleeing violence in their countries of origin and seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border is a result of “loopholes” in U.S. immigration laws. This is a distortion of the reasons why an increased numbers of families and children are seeking protection in the United States, and is not an accurate characterization of the U.S. asylum process.

Join the Campaign

Our experts on Border Security, Migration, and Central America

Vice President for Programs

Geoff Thale is the Vice President for Programs at the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), a leading research and advocacy organization advancing human rights in the Americas. He follows hemispheric trends as well as U.S. policy toward the region,…

Director for Mexico and Migrant Rights

Maureen Meyer directs WOLA's Mexico program with a special focus on analyzing U.S.-Mexico security policies and their relation to organized crime-related violence, corruption, and human rights violations in Mexico. She promotes justice for human rights violations in Mexico and also…

Director for Defense Oversight

Adam Isacson has worked on defense, security, and peacebuilding in Latin America since 1994. He now directs WOLA’s Defense Oversight program, which monitors U.S. cooperation with Latin America’s security forces, as well as other security trends.

Director for Citizen Security

Adriana Beltrán leads WOLA’s Citizen Security Program, focusing on violence prevention, and police and judicial reform in Central America. In addition to her work on citizen security, Ms. Beltrán has worked extensively on human rights and organized crime, particularly in…